Read the Bible in a Year

Each day, we'll post passages so that you can read the Bible in one year. This is part of The Colossians 13:16 Project, sponsored by Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia. You're invited to worship with us Sundays, at 11:00 a.m. or Saturdays, at 6:30 p.m. You may also want to consider joining one our adult Bible Studies: Thursdays at 12:00 noon and Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. We also have a full range of programs for children. If you want more information about the church, check out the other blogs. And please feel free to leave any comments.

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Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Bible Readings for July 5, 2017

Today our passages are 1 Chronicles 1:1–2:17; Acts 23:11-35; Psalm 3:1-8; and Proverbs 18:14-15.The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

1 Chronicles 1-2:17 (Contemporary English Version)

1 Chronicles 1

The Descendants of Adam

(Genesis 5.1-32; 10.1-32; 11.10-32)

1-4Adam was the father of Seth, and his descendants were
Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah, who had
three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
5Japheth was the father of
Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras, and they were the
ancestors of the kingdoms named after them. 6Gomer was the ancestor of Ashkenaz, Riphath, [a] and
Togarmah. 7Javan was the ancestor of
Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. [b]8Ham was the father of Ethiopia, [c]
Egypt, Put, and Canaan, and they were the ancestors of the kingdoms named after
them. 9Ethiopia was the ancestor of
Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. Raamah was the ancestor of Sheba and
Dedan. 10Ethiopia was also the father
of Nimrod, the world's first mighty warrior. 11Egypt was the ancestor of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim,
Naphtuhim, 12Pathrusim, Casluhim, and
Caphtorim, the ancestor of the Philistines. [d]13Canaan's oldest son was Sidon; his
other son was Heth. 14-16Canaan was
also the ancestor of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites,
and Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. 17Shem was the ancestor of Elam, Asshur,
Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech; [e]
they were the ancestors of the kingdoms named after them. 18Arpachshad was Shelah's father and Eber's grandfather.
19Eber named his first son Peleg, [f]
because in his time the earth was divided into tribal regions. Eber's second son
was Joktan, 20-23the ancestor of
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Ebal, Abimael,
Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. 24-27Shem's descendants included Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber,
Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, and Abram, later renamed Abraham.

Abraham's Family

(Genesis 25.1-4,12-16)

28Abraham was the father of Isaac and Ishmael.
29-31Ishmael had twelve sons,
who were born in the following order: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma,
Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
32Abraham and his slave woman
Keturah had six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan
was the father of Sheba and Dedan. 33Midian was the father of Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and
Eldaah.

Esau's Family

(Genesis 36.1-14)

34Abraham's
son Isaac was the father of Esau and Jacob. [g]35Esau was the father of Eliphaz,
Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. 36Eliphaz was the father of Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam,
Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek. 37Reuel was
the father of Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.

The First Edomites and Their Kings

(Genesis 36.20-43)

38Seir was
the father of Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. 39Lotan was the father of Hori and Homam;
Lotan's sister was Timna. 40Shobal was
the father of Alvan, [h]
Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. Zibeon was the father of Aiah and Anah. 41Anah was the father of Dishon and the
grandfather of Hemdan, [i]
Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 42Ezer was
the father of Bilhan, Zaavan, and Jaakan. [j]
Dishan [k] was
the father of Uz and Aran. 43Before
kings ruled in Israel, Bela son of Beor ruled the country of Edom from its
capital of Dinhabah. 44After Bela's
death, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah became king. 45After Jobab's death, Husham from the land of Teman became
king. 46After Husham's death, Hadad son
of Bedad became king and ruled from Avith. Earlier, Bedad had defeated the
Midianites in the territory of Moab. 47After Hadad's death, Samlah from Masrekah became king;
48after Samlah's death, Shaul from the
town of Rehoboth on the Euphrates River became king; 49and after Shaul's death, Baal Hanan son of Achbor became
king. 50After Baal Hanan's death, Hadad
ruled from Pai. His wife was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred and granddaughter
of Mezahab.
51The Edomite clans [l]
were Timna, Alvah, [m]
Jetheth, 52Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,
53Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 54Magdiel, and Iram.

1 Chronicles 2

The Descendants of Judah

1-2Jacob [n] was
the father of twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan,
Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 3Judah and his Canaanite wife Bathshua had three sons: Er,
Onan, and Shelah. But the LORD had Er put to death, because he disobeyed and did
what the LORD hated. 4Judah and his
daughter-in-law Tamar also had two sons: Perez and Zerah.
5Perez was the father of Hezron
and Hamul. 6Zerah was the father of
Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Darda. [o]7Achan, [p] who
was a descendant of Zerah and the son of Carmi, caused trouble for Israel,
because he kept for himself things that belonged only to the LORD. [q]8Ethan's son was Azariah.

The Ancestors of King David

9Hezron was the father of Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb. [r]10Ram was the father of Amminadab and
the grandfather of Nahshon, a tribal leader of Judah. 11Nahshon's descendants included Salma, Boaz, 12Obed, and Jesse. 13-15Jesse had seven sons, who were born in the following
order: Eliab, Abinadab, Shimea, Nethanel, Raddai, Ozem, and David. 16Jesse also had two daughters: Zeruiah and
Abigail. Zeruiah was the mother of Abishai, Joab, and Asahel. 17Abigail's husband was Jether, who was a
descendant of Ishmael, and their son was Amasa.

Footnotes:

1
Chronicles 1:6Riphath: Most Hebrew manuscripts and two ancient
translations (see also Genesis 10.2-5); some Hebrew manuscripts "Diphath." In
Hebrew the letters "d" and "r" look almost exactly the same.

1
Chronicles 1:7Dodanim: Most Hebrew manuscripts and one ancient
translation (see also Genesis 10.2-5); some Hebrew manuscripts "Rodanim." In
Hebrew the letters "d" and "r" look almost exactly the same.

1
Chronicles 1:8Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has "Cush," which was a
region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia
and Sudan.

1
Chronicles 1:12Casluhim, and Caphtorim, the ancestor of the
Philistines: The Hebrew text has "Casluhim, the ancestor of the Philistines,
and Caphtorim"; but see Jeremiah 47.4 and Amos 9.7.

1
Chronicles 1:17Meshech: Most Hebrew manuscripts; a few Hebrew
manuscripts and some manuscripts of one ancient translation "Mash" (see also
Genesis 10.21-31).

1
Chronicles 2:9Caleb: The Hebrew text has "Chelubai," another form of
the name.

Acts 23:11-35 (Contemporary English Version)

11That night the Lord stood beside
Paul and said, "Don't worry! Just as you have told others about me in Jerusalem,
you must also tell about me in Rome."

A Plot To Kill Paul

12-13The
next morning more than forty Jewish men got together and vowed that they would
not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul. 14Then some of them went to the chief priests and the
nation's leaders and said, "We have promised God that we would not eat a thing
until we have killed Paul. 15You and
everyone in the council must go to the commander and pretend that you want to
find out more about the charges against Paul. Ask for him to be brought before
your court. Meanwhile, we will be waiting to kill him before he gets there."
16When Paul's nephew heard
about the plot, he went to the fortress and told Paul about it. 17So Paul said to one of the army officers,
"Take this young man to the commander. He has something to tell him."
18The officer took him to the
commander and said, "The prisoner named Paul asked me to bring this young man to
you, because he has something to tell you."
19The commander took the young
man aside and asked him in private, "What do you want to tell me?"
20He answered, "Some men are
planning to ask you to bring Paul down to the Jewish council tomorrow. They will
claim that they want to find out more about him. 21But please don't do what they say. More than forty men
are going to attack Paul. They have made a vow not to eat or drink anything
until they have killed him. Even now they are waiting to hear what you decide."
22The commander sent the young
man away after saying to him, "Don't let anyone know that you told me this."

Paul Is Sent to Felix the Governor

23The commander called in two of his officers and told
them, "By nine o'clock tonight have two hundred soldiers ready to go to
Caesarea. Take along seventy men on horseback and two hundred foot soldiers with
spears. 24Get a horse ready for Paul
and make sure that he gets safely through to Felix the governor."
25The commander wrote a letter
that said:
26Greetings from Claudius
Lysias to the Honorable Governor Felix:
27Some Jews grabbed this man
and were about to kill him. But when I found out that he was a Roman citizen, I
took some soldiers and rescued him.
28I wanted to find out what
they had against him. So I brought him before their council 29and learned that the charges concern only their religious
laws. This man isn't guilty of anything for which he should die or even be put
in jail.
30As soon as I learned that
there was a plot against him, I sent him to you and told their leaders to bring
charges against him in your court.
31The soldiers obeyed the
commander's orders, and that same night they took Paul to the city of
Antipatris. 32The next day the foot
soldiers returned to the fortress and let the soldiers on horseback take him the
rest of the way. 33When they came to
Caesarea, they gave the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.
34The governor read the letter.
Then he asked Paul and found out that he was from Cilicia. 35The governor said, "I will listen to your case as soon as
the people come to bring their charges against you." After saying this, he gave
orders for Paul to be kept as a prisoner in Herod's palace. [a]

Footnotes:

Acts
23:35Herod's palace: The palace built by Herod the Great and used by
the Roman governors of Palestine.

Psalm 3:1-8 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 3

(Written by David when he was running from his son Absalom.)

An Early Morning Prayer

1I
have a lot of enemies, LORD.
Many fight against 2me and say,
"God won't rescue you!"
3But you are my shield,
and you give me victory
and great honor.
4I pray to you, and you answer
from your sacred hill.
5I sleep and wake up refreshed
because you, LORD,
protect me.
6Ten thousand enemies attack
from every side,
but I am not afraid.
7Come and save me, LORD God!
Break my enemies' jaws
and shatter their teeth,
8because you protect
and bless your people.

Proverbs 18:14-15 (Contemporary English Version)

14Being cheerful helps
when we are sick,
but nothing helps
when we give up.
15Everyone with good sense
wants to learn. Verse of the Day“At that time you will say, 'Our LORD, we are thankful, and we worship only
you. We will tell the nations how glorious you are and what you have done.'” -
Isaiah
12:4

American politician, showman, and businessman remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus, P. T. Barnum wrote, “Money is in some respects like fire; it is a very excellent servant but a terrible master.”

A Joke for the DayThe new minister stood at the church door greeting the members as they left the Sunday morning service. While most of the people told the minster how much they liked his message, one man seemingly had a different opinion. “That was a very dull and boring sermon, Pastor,” he said. The pastor was a bit baffled by this, but he continued shaking hands.A few minutes later, the same man again appeared in line and said, “I don’t think you did much in the way of preparation for your message.”Once again, the man circled back and appeared in line, this time muttering, “You really blew it. You didn’t have a thing to say, Pastor.”Finally, the minister could stand it no longer. He went to one of the deacons and inquired about the man. “Oh, don’t let that guy bother you,” said the deacon. “He’s a little slow. All he does is go around repeating whatever he hears other people saying.”